Because We're Team Chaotix
by The Sensational SpiderDom321
Summary: When Vector is hired by Tails to investigate a mysterious Tanuki named Dodon Pa and his interdimensional racing competition, Espio is left at home to do a background check on the Tanuki. But he discovers that Charmy isn't feeling his best. When he asks what's wrong, he's left with a shocking response.


"Sheesh… Vector really needs to clean up around here,"

Espio the Chameleon: Ninja of Team Chaotix found himself dusting the floor of his HQ: Chaotix Detective Agency. He was left in charge of cleaning the place while his boss/best friend: Vector the Crocodile went off on a secret mission.

Not too long ago, Miles "Tails" Prower assigned Vector and the Chaotix to investigate Dodon Pa, a strange Tanuki who invited Team Sonic and Team Rose to take part in a dangerous racing competition located on Planet Wisp. Tails suspected him of working alongside Dr. Eggman and wanted the detectives to look into what Dodon Pa's motives were, what his background is, and whether he is Eggman's ally or not. Vector decided to attend the racing competition with his own car while he left Espio and Charmy down on Mobius to freshen up the HQ and do research on the mysterious Tanuki.

Unfortunately, the chameleon was having a terrible time.

Across the floor were crumbled newspapers, bags of chips, comic books, and other pieces of litter left for Espio to attend to. Luckily, the chameleon was used to all of this, so he developed a system to help him move faster.

He vacuumed up all of the newspapers that Vector doesn't read anymore.

He arranged Charmy and Vector's comics by alphabetical order.

And he neatly arranged Vector's radio and CD-disks.

Soon enough, he was finished with all of the chores in the house.

"Finally. Took a little longer than expected, but I'm glad it's done," he wiped his forehead. "Now, to get back to work."

Grabbing his laptop from the couch, Espio logged onto the internet.

He remembered what he needed to do regarding Dodon Pa, so he decided to get started on his research. He scanned through the news website to see if there was any video footage regarding Dodon Pa and if anyone has spotted him, but all he could find were cat videos and odd drawings of Sonic. He shook his head and continued doing research, hoping to find out Dodon Pa's true identity.

"It can't be this hard to find out someone's background," Espio said to himself. "Then again, Tails claimed that Dodon Pa was from another dimension, so I guess finding background on him would be difficult. But I'm not giving up. Vector wants me to do this, so this is what I need to do."

As Espio continued his investigation…

…he was interrupted by a sound.

The sound of sniffing and soft sobbing echoed through the office.

The chameleon stopped typing and raised an eyebrow; he wondered what the sound was.

Someone was crying down the hall, but they were doing it smoothly. Espio got up from the couch and slowly walked towards the hallway. There, he saw that a bedroom door was cracked open and that someone was sitting underneath the bed covers.

That someone was Charmy Bee.

Approaching the door, Espio opened it and saw that the six-year-old bee had blankets over most of his body; his head was exposed. The bee's eyes were red, and his pillows were stained with tears. Charmy closed his eyes and continued sobbing into his pillows, unaware that Espio was watching him.

Speaking of which, the ninja knocked on the door.

"Charmy?" he inquired.

The bee gasped and hid underneath the covers.

"Oh, h-hi, Espio!" he said cheerfully. "Don't mind me, just playing pretend under the blankets, that's all."

"Are you okay?" Espio asked, entering the room. "You seem upset."

"No, no, I'm not upset," Charmy chuckled, hiding his tears. "I'm just playing pretend, that's all."

Espio shook his head and gently unfolded the covers, exposing the bee. Charmy's puffy eyes glanced up at Espio and he tried to hide them; he didn't want the most mature member of Team Chaotix to see him crying like a baby.

But knowing Espio, he was more concerned with Charmy's health. "Charmy, are you crying?"

"N-no," Charmy sniffed, removing his hands from his eyes. "Maybe… does it show?"

"What's wrong?" Espio sat on the bed. "Did someone hurt you?"

The bee sniffed again. "N-no… It's just… does Vector hate us?"

Espio's eyes widened when he heard that question. Of course, Vector doesn't hate his team. Sure, he got angry at them once in a while, yelled at them a few times, bickered with Espio, and scolded Charmy for acting annoying at times, but he ever showed signs of hating them. The chameleon wondered what his friend asked this question.

"What makes you say that?"

Charmy sniffed again and leaned upward, holding onto his light blue pillow. "Well… remember when Vector entered that Extreme Gear competition with Amy and Cream? He didn't bother asking us if we wanted to join. He just cared more about winning the money and decided to go alone. He didn't even mention our names on TV… He felt proud calling Amy and Cream his teammates, almost as if we meant nothing to him…"

The bee grabbed a tissue and blew into it. Throwing it in the trash can, he continued explaining his feelings.

"I thought we would've gone as Team Chaotix. It would've been cool running around on Extreme Gear. I've never ridden one before, but I've seen Sonic and Knuckles use them all the time. They're so cool! I've always wanted to use those things and I thought that race would give us a chance to do so… but nope, Vector decided to leave us behind while he snags the cash on his own…

"What was he planning to use the money for anyway? Probably something that wouldn't benefit us at all. We've been struggling to look for work for a while and our pay is so low, we can't afford to take enough showers with hot water… Something told me that if Vector won that money, he would use it to take himself on a fancy cruise. And he would be all by himself… No Charmy, No Espio, just Vector."

Espio sat and continued listening.

"I know that the World Grand Prix was a few years ago and I moved on from my feelings about it… but I was reminded of them when today came… when Tails asked us to investigate this Dodon Pa character and his interdimensional race, I was excited! Why? Because I thought all three of us would get to drive cars alongside Team Sonic and Team Rose. It would've been so much fun!..."

Charmy smiled for a brief moment before more tears flowed down his eyes. "B-but… of course, it didn't happen… Vector asked us to stay behind and do a background check on Dodon Pa while he enters the race. Who does he get to join him? Why it's none other than Silver and Blaze. Granted, I have nothing against those two, but… they're not Team Chaotix members. And he's probably in the contest because of another cash prize… like I said, he'll spend that money on a fancy dinner for one. No Charmy, No Espio, just Vector…

"It makes me wonder if he hates us. If so… what did we do that was so bad? Is it because I annoy him all the time? I don't try to annoy him; I just try to make him laugh… I know we're down on our luck and low on money, and I know Vector is stressed about not having enough money, but… I make those jokes to make him laugh… Laughter is something that can help you get over a stressful time, so that's what I try to do. I wanna make him laugh, but I always come across as annoying…

"That's probably why he didn't take us to Dodon Pa's competition and the Extreme Gear tournament. He knew that we'd annoy him the whole way through… and I feel sorry for everything I've done to make him mad."

Espio took a moment to register everything the six-year-old told him. He had no clue that such a cheerful person could hold that much emotion. He knew that Vector could get annoyed with Charmy's antics, which would cause him to yell or scream at him. But he was aware that Charmy did it out of humor instead of annoyance.

Looking down at the devastated insect, Espio took a deep breath and decided to cheer him up.

"Charmy… Vector doesn't hate us," he told him. "He would never hate us. Yes, he's gone on his own a few times like the Extreme Gear contest for an example, but he join Team Rose to hurt us… he did it because he wanted to win the cash prize."

Charmy sniffed. "So he could go on a fancy cruise and eat 50-five-course meals."

"No… so, he could put it into our savings."

The bee widened his eyes and stood up. "W-what?"

"Amy and Cream hired Vector thirty minutes before the race started, but before Vector registered his name on the sign-in sheet, he called me on the phone and told me that he was entering the race. He told me not to tell you that if he won… he'd take all three of us out for dinner… we'd eat a five-course-meal together, share a few laughs, and have a good time… unfortunately, the whole thing turned out to be a bust, but… he still dreamt of the day he'd take us out for a fancy dinner."

Charmy thought about that for a few moments and he smiled softly. "He… he really told you that?"

"Every word," Espio nodded, mirroring Charmy's gesture.

The bee wiped his eyes. "But… what about today? Why did he take Silver and Blaze to Dodon Pa's competition with him instead of us?"

"Well, one reason is because he wanted us to stay behind and do background research on Dodon Pa. Another reason is the same one I just told you about… he thinks that Dodon Pa's prize is a lifetime supply of money. He told me that if he wins that money, we'll go out to eat and down the road… we'll redo our office. He's thinking of adding new lights, getting each of us our own desk, new furniture, new rooms, everything that will improve our living conditions," Espio replied. "The point is… he wants to win that money to support us… all of us."

Charmy began to smile before he said, "I know this sounds like a stupid question to ask, but… why would he spend that money on us when he could spend it on himself?"

"Because we're Team Chaotix… a dysfunctional family that's always there for each other."

Charmy chuckled when he heard that and got up from the bed, stretching his arms and legs. With that, he jumped into Espio's arms, embracing him with a hug.

"Thanks, Espio," the bee sniffed one last time. "Sorry that I overreacted… I should have thought about talking to Vector himself about this."

"And you will when he comes home," Espio nodded, hugging the bee back. "Are you all right?"

Releasing the chameleon, Charmy nodded. "Yeah! I'm good."

"Great," Espio smiled. "Let's get back to finding Dodon Pa's background."

Getting up from the bed, Espio walked out the door, but before he entered the hallway…

…Charmy stopped him.

"Hey, Espio."

"Yes, Charmy?"

"…what do you think Vector is doing right now?"

Espio turned his eyes to a picture frame of him, Vector, and Charmy on the top shelf. Both the crocodile and the bee were making funny faces while he had his arms folded, rolling his eyes.

Chuckling at the photo, Espio replied. "He's probably thinking of how we're going to spend that cash as a family."

* * *

Meanwhile on Planet Wisp, Vector the Crocodile was ready to race once more alongside his teammates: Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat. All three of them stood next to each other, their hands gripped on their steering wheels and their feet ready to slam the gas pedal. In front of them was Team Sonic and Team Rose. Both teams were ready to race.

But as Vector prepared for the race, he reached behind his chair and pulled out a picture.

It was the same picture of Team Chaotix that Charmy kept in his bedroom but attached to it was a note.

It read, _Do it for them_.

With a sigh of determination, Vector smiled and placed the picture in a safe location.

Within a matter of three seconds, the race began and Vector took off at the speed of light.

**_END OF STORY_**

* * *

**_POST-A/N:_**

_Hello, everyone! I figured I'd put a Post Author's Note instead of making one at the top for a change. Thank you all so much for reading this story and I hoped you enjoyed it a lot. This idea came to me when it was confirmed that Silver and Blaze were part of Vector's team in Team Sonic Racing. _

_I've not played the game as of this moment, but I have seen the cutscenes and it's implied that Espio and Charmy were looking for background on Dodon Pa while Vector enters the race. I figured I'd play on the fact as to why Espio and Charmy weren't in the game. _

_It's a shame they weren't and the same goes with characters like Cream, Gemerl, Mighty, Ray, the Hooligans, the Babylon Rogues, and other characters that could've made the game great. No wonder why Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled kicked this game's butt._

_Jokes aide, thanks again for reading my one-shot. Don't forget to R&R and I'll see you all for my next project! ;)_

_~SD321 (SpiderDom321)_


End file.
